- Mistake # 4 -
SENDING UTILITY BILLS LATE
Residents not paying or paying late can be a significant financial burden for housing providers. It is essential to have fair and defensible utility billing practices in place to ensure that tenants receive bills they feel are justified. A well-planned Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) can capture and bill a resident's actual usage as accurately as possible. This system creates a sense of ownership among residents, as they can see how their actions affect their expenses month-to-month. Studies have shown that individually calculated utility bills can reduce water, gas, and electric usage by up to 35%. If a tenant receives a bill they feel is unjustified – “How could I have used that much?” – the likelihood increases that the utility bill will go unpaid.
THIS MEANS TWO THINGS:
Residents save money – and have the ability to directly impact their savings. This creates a differentiating factor for properties where billing is perceived as fairer.
Your master utility bill is lower. There will almost always be some percentage of utility costs that can’t be recovered because of things like lobby lighting and lawn watering.
INDIVIDUALLY CALCULATED UTILITY BILLS CAN REDUCE WATER, GAS, AND ELECTRIC USAGE BY UP TO 35%.
- Mistake # 5 -
USING THE WRONG RUBS CALCULATION
Ratio Utility Billing Systems are designed for properties that are unable to use submeters due to physical or practical constraints. However, RUBS is more complicated than simply dividing your utility expenses by a ratio. Bills need to be calculated through sophisticated ratios and precise adjustments.
The bill might be based on the number of tenants or the number of bedrooms. Then there's ratio occupancy, which translates the number of occupants in a unit to a billing number of occupants. Selecting the wrong RUBS calculation can hurt your cost recovery. The right utility billing company can help you customize your RUBS program to suit your specific needs.
THE WRONG RUBS CALCULATION CAN HURT YOUR COST RECOVERY.
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